8 April 1895 - DADA Classroom

“Form a line—each of you will have a turn. Stand here.” Gus instructed, motioning toward the bold X marked on the floor where he had just stood. For the past week, the class had studied the theory behind boggarts – what they were and how they were defeated – but now his students had to put their knowledge to the test of actually facing one. As the first student stepped up, he shifted to the side. “Wand out, please.” He gave a small nod of encouragement before unlatching the trunk, releasing the boggart into the room.

(The Ministry was always eager to allow him to borrow one just for this lesson.)

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Open to OWL-level (years 3-5) DADA students. One student at a time, but please feel free to leave commentary! The first one to post comes up to the mark. Please make sure your post includes the form the boggart takes and your character’s goal form, followed by them casting the spell — unless they can’t manage it from fear!

Please also let me know in a postscript your student’s general spell level (abysmal, below level, at level, above level) so we can see how they do.

FYI: Albus Dumbledore Eros Mohr Harriet Bythesea Greta Gillenwater James Fletcher Katherine Arundell Wren Burroughs Yuri Podsnapper Corinne Dursley Antelope Grace Bonnie Greyback Millie Potts Cadogan Glynn Lucy Tatting Maeve Buchanan II Leonard Blank Anne Moony Violetta DeCroix (+ other OWL students I might have missed!)

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   Anne Moony

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Are you student? Learn how to earn house points!

Violetta had done adequately in the boggart lesson last year, dispelling the image of her mother in the poor house, she was good at dada, relatively speaking. She would never be one of the best but nor did she need to be. DeCroix put her early in the order so the sixteen-year-old stepped forward to see what would come out, expecting much the same as last year.

The box opened and out floated a simple leather-bound book? She was confused and she cocked her eyebrow before looking at the professor and readying Rose de Minuit. Then the book began to rotate and she caught the writing on the front The Romantic Confessions of...

She didn't need to see the author's name to guess it, she could recognise her own exquisite calligraphy. "Oh, non non non non!" She flustered as the book exploded open and paged whipped around like they were in a hurricane. Her heart raced at this fear that the creature had cleverly plucked from her deep subconscious.

"Riddikulus!" she snapped, flicking her wand and attempting to turn it into a picture book of the silliest faces the man had pulled over the course of their friendship.

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Gus Lissington

She is good at charms and dada and has done this class before.

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   Gus Lissington

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At first Kitty had thought the subject of boggarts was fascinating. That was until she realized a few days in that this was in preparation of them actually attempting to banish one. Not just the theory of one. She'd begun to dread it, having no idea what shape the boggart would take for her. She'd slept poorly last night in anticipation of this class. Glancing around she could see her fellow first years also appeared apprehensive, but the fourth and fifth years only slightly.

Miss DeCroix was first in line, somehow Kitty was right behind her. Her mouth was dry. But then she saw the other girl's boggart. A.... book? Her brow furrowed and she tried to make out what it said. It looked like just the type of book her older sisters would giggle over in a corner of the house where their parents wouldn't find them. That didn't seem scary at all. Perhaps this would be easier than she had expected. It was certainly a comfort to the nervous third year.

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   Violetta DeCroix

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There were many other places Cadogan would rather be right now; the idea of facing a boggart made him nervous, but Professor Lissington really hadn’t given anyone the choice of facing one or not. At least he wasn’t going first. He blinked as their professor opened the trunk, the boggart emerging quickly, shifting and writhing until it finally took the shape of a book.

Cadogan didn't say anything, although his eyebrows knitted together in a bit of confusion. He didn't know Ms. DeCroix well enough to make any judgements, but still... he wondered what in the world was so scary about words.

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   Violetta DeCroix

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Over the last few years as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Gus had seen a lot of manners of boggarts – ghoulish things with teeth, towering monsters, family members – but this one was new. He wasn’t one to judge though because they had all fears of their own; he wasn’t sure what his own would be if he were to face the boggart in this moment. He didn’t move as he heard a few of the other students around him giggle. Instead he watched Ms. DeCroix ready her wand, his own in his hand in case she froze.

There was a pop and the book shrunk dramatically, becoming a thick bound children’s book, the kind with garish colors and oversized illustration. And there, on the pages, was a series of expressive caricatures of someone he didn’t recognize, all making different funny faces. He blinked at the nearest page before he turned toward the Slytherin, giving her a small smile. “Excellent work Ms. DeCroix. Take five points for Slytherin.”

He motioned the next student forward. “Please Mr. Mohr, if you will.”

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   Violetta DeCroix

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Are you student? Learn how to earn house points!

Eros stepped forward when he was bid to begin his turn. He took a breath to center himself and found himself facing a more horrific form of the woman who had tried kidnapping him back in 1893. She had long, grasping nails, a disgusting look in her eyes and her mouth mouthing the words to the silencing spell she had used to render him helpless to call for help or even defend himself at the time.

"Riddikulus," he cast, aiming to turn the woman into a rag doll that flopped around uselessly instead.

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At Level spell level

  

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eros is half-veela which means females tend to feel drawn to him with older ladies feeling protective of him

Lucy was not particularly enthusiastic about today's lesson--though she wasn't sure what her boggart would even be. She wasn't really looking forward to finding out, thank you very much. Needless to say, she was happy to let her classmates go first.

She'd squinted skeptically at Miss DeCroix's boggart--a book?--but at least Mr. Mohr's looked appropriately horrifying. Lucy's first thought was of a hag--though she was pretty sure she'd never seen a hag outside of a picture in a book--and that was a reasonable enough association for her.

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Wren was a bit terrified of facing a Boggart. But that was the whole point of the creatures, wasn't it? To scare you? Wren stood in the line and hoped the class would be over before it was her turn to go up and cast the spell. Watching Miss DeCroix do the spell made her feel slightly better about it, since if one girl could do it, Wren hoped that meant she could, as well.

Mr. Mohr's was far more terrifying and incited Wren to cover her eyes, in case the creature looked at her. What was it? She wasn't familiar with Mr. Mohr, but it seemed that he could certainly think of some scary things! She hoped he was just as good at turning it into something funny, because she was seriously unsettled by the woman's appearance.

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Thank you so much, Bee!

The relief on the face of the French girl was obvious as her revealing memoire turned into an amusing picture book. She smiled sweetly as the professor congratulated her and returned to her classmates.

She stood next to Lucy Tatting the much younger slytherin and spoke to her. Mohr's was more grissly and traditionally frightening than hers she supposed. It was funny actually, looking at this horrible thing he had conjured as an observer you could be very aware that it's just a boggart, but in that moment when your own fear is revealed it felt so real. "Have you seen a Boggart before mon ami?" she asked the third year "You just have to be confident and remember it's just a trick the little thing is playing, oui?"

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Mr. Mohr was next up to the plate, and Gus watched as the boggart twisted and shifted until it took form of a woman - of course Gus had no idea who this woman was, and he'd learned not to ask about someone's deepest fears. Mr. Mohr had a deep concentration on his face as he cast the spell, successfully turning her into a rag doll that fell to the ground in a tangle of limp limbs. Gus lifted his wand, guiding the Boggart back into its cabinet with a swift, practiced flick.

He turned to the Gryffindor, giving a subtle nod. "Good job." He said. "Miss Tatting, Miss Burroughs, Mr. Glynn, who is next?"

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Are you student? Learn how to earn house points!

Wren looked to the students around her who hadn't gone, but it seemed like they didn't want to face the Boggart, either. Wren hadn't done it before, and she wasn't sure what would appear when it was her turn to go up and cast the spell. She was equally uncertain of her ability to cast the spell under pressure.

But it seemed that neither Miss Tatting or Mr. Glynn were going to stand up, and Wren suspected that Professor Lissington was going to select one of them eventually. She could at least face the creature on her own terms instead of being sent up there to face it.

She gripped her wand, knuckles tight. The Boggart wasn't even out yet and she was already nervous, which wasn't a promising sign. She watched the closet doors, expecting a snake, or maybe a collection of her friends laughing behind her back. They swung open and out stepped...

Her father, Warren Burroughs. His face was bloody, though in her head Wren knew that he had died in his sleep. Whose blood was it, then? He stepped towards her, hands clenched in fists. Wren could feel the blood draining out of her face. What was she supposed to turn him into?

"Riddikulus!" Wren called out, fumbling with the spell even though she wasn't picturing anything yet. Her father advanced closer to her. "Riddikulus!" she said again, this time imagining him turning into one of the circus clowns from Lilibet's picture books.

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Wren is at level (but more than a little shaken up)

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   Gus Lissington

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Thank you so much, Bee!